For more than a decade, Alan Kraus and Mohinder Singh have worked on the same stretch of Ninth Avenue, watching and worrying as the currents of change have engulfed their corner of Chelsea.

The two businessmen have watched art galleries and luxury condominiums pop up and throngs of tourists pour onto the High Line. Everywhere, there is new money, new affluence and new faces. And as rents soar, many old-timers are vanishing and familiar storefronts are going dark.

Over the past six months, the florist has closed. The butcher has closed. The Italian cafe has closed. Shuttered stores now anchor both ends of their block between 20th and 21st Streets, and the two men sometimes wonder: Will we survive as small-business owners in Chelsea?

The good news is they won’t go without a fight. They are repositioning themselves, adjusting to the evolving economic landscape and praying that there is still some room in Manhattan for the little guy.

Mr. Kraus, who has owned the Barking Zoo pet supply store for 14 years, focuses on locally sourced, organic pet food, high-end pet accessories and “I Love Chelsea” dog sweaters and souvenirs for the tourists. He prides himself on knowing his customers (and their pets) by name.

Mr. Singh has owned the Dil-E Punjab Deli for 20 years and caters primarily to taxi drivers, promoting his $6.99 lunch and dinner buffet with signs and a sidewalk placard designed to appeal to wealthier taste buds. (“Vegan Indian Food,” the signs proclaim. “Pure Vegetarian.”) He delivers fliers to the new condos and high-rent apartments and sells bottles of chilled San Pellegrino along with mango juice and Indian spices.

The results? Mr. Kraus, 52, who considered closing his business a few years ago, is feeling optimistic.

“Thankfully, we’ve seen a moderate increase in sales this year, which is what we need to continue,” he said. “As long as we understand what our customers really want from us, we’ll be fine.”

Mr. Singh, who works next door to Mr. Kraus, is more uncertain. Customers from the neighborhood are coming in “more and more,” he said. But he lost 40 percent of his business when the city created bike lanes along Ninth Avenue, making it impossible for taxis to park in front of his store.

Image

Alan Kraus, at his pet supply store, the Barking Zoo, worries about the rising rents in Chelsea.CreditOzier Muhammad/The New York Times

His lease will be up in about two years, and he wonders whether he can survive another rent increase. “If I can get some break in rent, I’d like to stay here,” said Mr. Singh, 65, who wants the city to put a taxi stand nearby. “I can only trust in God.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised to refocus the city’s attention on entrepreneurs like Mr. Singh and Mr. Kraus. He has vowed to stem the flow of subsidies and tax breaks to big corporations and to address the needs of small businesses, arguing that they were neglected by his predecessor, Michael R. Bloomberg.

Last month, the de Blasio administration announced a new program to identify strategies to help immigrants start and expand businesses. City officials plan to reduce fines and to make it easier for small firms to bid on city contracts. And they have unveiled a new fund that will offer financing to small businesses working on public or private construction projects.

In the short term, though, none of these efforts appear likely to help business owners like Mr. Singh and Mr. Kraus, who may ultimately be priced out of their neighborhoods.

In Chelsea, the changes are plain to see: Between 2000 and 2012, the median value of owner-occupied properties increased to $817,459 from $361,371, while the number of poorer, less educated residents in the neighborhood declined, according to aggregated census data analyzed by Susan Weber-Stoger, a demographer at Queens College.

Mr. Kraus and Mr. Singh witnessed the transformation when part of a seminary across the street from their stores was sold to a developer. A luxury condominium replaced it, with a penthouse apartment currently listed at $16 million.

The men feel the pinch: When Mr. Kraus renewed his lease this year, his rent rose to $6,500 a month, up from $5,000. Mr. Singh pays a similar amount. Mr. Kraus has four employees at the pet store and Mr. Singh has three at his deli.

It was no surprise to them to hear that Alan Sklar, the owner of Alan’s Alley Video, will be shutting his doors after nearly 26 years in business.

“Everything is starting to feel homogenized,” said Katy Eppley, an interior decorator who stopped in the Barking Zoo last week. “The neighborhood is losing its beautiful, creative vibe.”

Mr. Kraus, who rented an apartment in Chelsea for two decades, is already gone. Two years ago, he moved to Harlem. “All my people have left Chelsea,” he said.

But he and Mr. Singh, who lives in Queens, plan to hang on as businessmen. They hope to keep their foothold in the neighborhood, even if they cannot say for how long.

Rachel Swarns would like to hear about your experiences in New York’s work world. Please contact her directly by filling out this brief form. She may follow up with you directly for an interview.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 17 of the New York edition with the headline: Small Businesses Trying to Stay Afloat in Chelsea’s Rising Tide of Wealth. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe